Game Recap

Game Recap

LANGLEY, British Columbia – First-year striker Krista Gommeringer (Calgary, Alta.) opened the scoring in the third minute of play and the Trinity Western women’s soccer team simply rolled from there as the Spartans opened their Canada West campaign with a 6-0 win over the visiting Lethbridge Pronghorns Friday at Rogers Field.

The Spartans were the better team from the first whistle to the last as they never let up against an overmatched Pronghorns side on route to their most decisive Canada West victory in four years.

Following Gommeringer’s opening strike – in which Spartans goalkeeper Kristen Funk (Calgary, Alta.) sent her in on a breakaway with a brilliant over-the-top ball and the rookie forward made no mistake in finishing – the flood gates opened.

Gommeringer scored her second goal of the game in the 30th minute and then Jenna Di Nunzio (North Delta, B.C.) added two, in the 34th and 54th minutes, before Jessica King (Liverpool, England), scoring in the 74th minute, and Alessandra Oliverio (Calgary, Alta.), burying in second half stoppage time, rounded out the goal barrage.

The Spartans are now 1-0 on the season while the Pronghorns are 0-1.

“It’s a win and an opportunity for us to get a little more confidence,” said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. “Obviously in preseason we lost some games that were good games but now the regular season has started so it was a chance for some girls to get on the score sheet and get rolling. It was a chance to play with some possession and keep a clean sheet. But there’s still a lot of work to do so we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves.”

Gommeringer’s opening goal sent the crowd of 470 into a frenzy early on as she showed Spartans fans her keen ability to make runs while also displaying an early connection with Funk.

“Before the game started, Funk came up to me and said, ‘In the first 15 minutes I’m going to just hit one long and you just get behind their defenders,’” Gommeringer explained. “So she wound up and I went long and it went there and I slid it far side.”

Di Nunzio’s goals were also of note as she was held without a goal in league play all of last year.

For the second-year Oliverio, it was her first goal in Canada West play as a Spartan.

Trinity Western’s Funk earned the shutout without having to make a single save. The Spartans had a 19-0 advantage in shots on net and a 31-1 advantage in total shots.

Despite allowing six goals, Lethbridge goalkeeper Taura Willoughby was arguably the Pronghorns best player as she made 13 saves on 19 shots, including stymying the Spartans on number of quality chances.

Trinity Western will host Calgary Saturday at 5:00 p.m. at Rogers Field while Lethbridge will travel to play UBC also Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Notes – Trinity Western's Kristen Santema made her return to the pitch after missing all of last season with health issues. She played seven minutes as a forward...The Spartans previous biggest margin of victory in Canada West action was a 9-0 win over Regina Sept. 26, 2008.